* Markets wary of Dec. 15 tariff deadline
* European stocks down for second day
* German ZEW sentiment higher than expected
* Fed, ECB meetings eyed
By Herbert Lash
NEW YORK, Dec 10 (Reuters) - Government debt and global
stock markets held steady on Tuesday as uncertainty kept risk
appetite in check just days ahead of a new round of U.S. tariffs
on Chinese goods.
Investors were torn by remarks that once again suggested a
positive outcome to the 17-month U.S.-Sino trade war, yet also
indicated a deal might not come until after U.S. presidential
elections in November 2020.
Prospects for an initial "phase one" trade deal look good,
acting White House Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney said at a Wall
Street Journal event. But Mulvaney also repeated U.S. President Donald Trump's
assertion that he did not feel pressured to get a trade
agreement signed with Beijing before the election.
Joe Saluzzi, co-manager of trading at Themis Trading in
Chatham, New Jersey, called the back and forth typical but also
sounded a note of caution.
"They're going to posture one way then posture the other
way, and that's classic negotiation," Saluzzi said. "That's
fine, we can all wait for that. But until you see the actual
news, we really don't know."
Stocks meandered near break-even, with MSCI's gauge of
stocks across the globe .MIWD00000PUS shed 0.01%.
Shares in Europe traded slightly lower while stocks on Wall
Street edged higher after Canada, Mexico and the United States
closed in on a new North American free trade deal that gave U.S.
stocks a slight pop, Saluzzi said.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI rose 8.28 points, or
0.03%, to 27,917.88, the S&P 500 .SPX gained 2.7 points, or
0.09%, to 3,138.66 and the Nasdaq Composite .IXIC added 19.97
points, or 0.23%, to 8,641.79.
Market moves were fairly muted as investors awaited
developments from U.S. and European central bank meetings. The
U.S. Federal Reserve is widely expected to hold interest rates
steady after cutting them three times this year.
U.S. Treasury yields rose after the Wall Street Journal
reported that U.S. and Chinese trade negotiators were planning
to delay $156 billion in U.S. tariffs on Chinese imports
scheduled to take effect on Dec. 15. Benchmark 10-year notes US10YT=RR fell 4/32 in price to
yield 1.8433%.
Germany's benchmark Bund yield DE10YT=RR inched up to
-0.29% after the ZEW research institute said its monthly index
on economic morale among investors rose to 10.7 from -2.1 a
month earlier, much higher than forecasts. The dollar slipped against the euro on a
better-than-expected German economic sentiment survey.
The dollar index .DXY fell 0.19%, with the euro EUR= up
0.28% to $1.1093.
The Japanese yen JPY= weakened 0.15% versus the greenback
at 108.73 per dollar.
Oil prices rose.
Brent crude LCOc1 rose 21 cents to $64.46 a barrel by 1445
GMT, and West Texas Intermediate oil CLc1 gained 23 cents to
$59.25 a barrel.